Romaine lettuce, 1 head, organic
-Whole Foods 2.49-Natural Grocer 1.50
-Sprouts 1.69-Tom Thumb 1 ($3 for three heads in a package)I'm also going to call this one a tie because I prefer to not buy packaged produce. Also, I don't want to buy three heads of Romaine lettuce at once because it's too much for my little family of two. By the time we get to all three, there is likely to be spoilage, which I hate.

Whole Foods has an excellent store brand called 365. It has by far the nicest store experience. Maybe it's that the one in my neighborhood is just a year old, but it's beautiful and I'm a sucker for gorgeous displays. Factors like an olive bar, in-store restaurants, clothing and shoes department, in-store bar, and huge selections of cleaning and beauty products make this a really good shopper experience. I feel healthier just breathing in that store. But its prices are high.

Natural Grocer is the most granola store. They sell ONLY organic produce- no conventional even available. No cross-contamination possible. They offer ripe and overripe produce at a huge discount. They don't even offer plastic or paper bags- you have to bring your own or buy! Their people were also the nicest, calling the back of the store when we couldn't find basil (which they had and literally RAN to the check-out counter). I think I was asked five times if I needed help finding anything. I'd never been before, and I think this will be our primary place for weekly shopping in the future. However, it's smaller and doesn't carry everything; shopping here guarantees we'll have to grocery shop at two places. I'm ok with that.

Sprouts, frankly, was a huge disappointment. I will not go back. Giant signs saying "fresh", "local", "organic" and "natural" adorn the walls, but I found the organic produce section to be just a small table or two surrounded by conventional fruits and vegetables. I honestly felt that they were being dishonest in the marketing, both in the produce section and in the processed foods- far fewer organic foods on the shelf than Whole Foods or Natural Grocer. Many products were labeled as "all-natural" and other similar labels that are not regulated by the government. Only products that are scientifically tested and proven are allowed to be labeled with the word organic; many other words are used to make their products seem more healthy or chemical-free than they really are.

Tom Thumb is Tom Thumb. Big box, one-stop shopping. They sell everything, and there's no doubt that convenience is worth something. They also have the organic house brand called O that offered several of the winning prices. You can also use your grocery spending to earn discounts on gasoline via the reward card. I thought I'd have to leave Tom Thumb when I wanted to switch to organic groceries, but it turns out I can get quite a few organic items there, and often at the lowest price.

Happy shopping, eating, and saving!

Love,
Katie

Nota bene to my dear former readers from the Haiti era. If you are wondering what this post has anything to do with Haiti, the answer is nothing. But I did all this work and wanted my friends to benefit from it, too!

Miquette bragging over her 6th graders' scores on the national exam. All passed!

Leading the daily flag raising ceremony and singing the national anthem.

A prayer to start the day

His application to the TeacHaiti School - big dreams, big needs

Sebastien is sponsored by a Dallas friend!

One of my favorite kiddos- he was a pre-K student at the time of the earthquake

Three of my discipleship girls! Loved getting to catch up with them. They are headed off to college this month.

We went to Haiti back in March. I wrote this post at this time and somehow never hit "publish." This day was my favorite thing about the trip- getting to help out at TeacHaiti. We saw how the school has grown- new classrooms, new students, ever expanding and including more kids in its mission to educate Haiti's poorest kiddos.

We happened to be there on a day when a TeacHaiti board member from MN was in town. He was a physician, so any kids who wanted to see a doctor got a checkup. I furiously scribbled down notes in their files during the checkups. It was a delight to get to see so many kids I recognized from past visits, especially the 20-plus kids sponsored by Texans.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

We're in Haiti for a spring break visit and today visited two of my favorite boutiques featuring Haitian-made artisan products. Apparent Project and Haitian Creations (with a new line called Fait la Force launching this fall) were chock-full of jewelry, bags, metalwork, soaps, wall decor, stuffed animals, and pottery.

Apparent Project was a hive of activity, with over 250 artisans working to create beads and throw pottery. There was a group experimenting with batik patterns on dyed cloth using wax. Another group was tapping out designs on tin hearts likely recycled from giant oil drums. They've expanded to include a cafe with fresh fruit smoothies as well as a library. Upstairs I watched a lady stringing green and gold beads. It felt good to chat briefly in Kreyol; it's not lost! One of AP's founders, Corrigan, opened a new shop called Ayiti Ink for his tattoo business. So much growth since we left in June!

In the same building with Ayiti Ink is The Irish Embassy, Haiti's one and only Irish pub. Baby Grace made use of the giant carved pulpit to deliver her first sermon.

Over in Tabarre, Haitian Creations is working on sample products in anticipation of their new line launching this fall. Chandler is particularly expanding into handbags made of a soft, supple leather that looks like something off the Baggu website.

We attended chapel today and saw our former student, Timothy, share his testimony. Stories about his childhood in Nigeria and his German parents were touching.

We attended pizza dinner and Bible study at the Grahams' house with 20 or so teachers, then took the long trek up Montaine Nwa to stay tonight with John and Jodie. Now I'm falling asleep to the distinctly Haitian combo of tree frogs and the hum of inverter batteries...

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

We're back! Sweaty as ever, Ben and I are back in action in the Ayiti. Our primary purposes are to love on our friends & students as well as help at TeacHaiti. Today was spent at Quisqueya.

The school is now purple, our beloved juniors have now received college acceptances, and basically everybody had a baby. In our first 24 hours I accidentally attended a La Leche League meeting (and stayed just to be with my friends and their new babies) and we dropped in to our old friend Eagle Market for a $5 bag of pretzels. When we checked out, my name still printed on the receipt... I stood in the hall during the passing period at 11:00 and kissed basically every kid in the high school. "Miss, you're shorter!" "No, hon, you're taller!" We visited home ec class and saw my discipleship girls whip up fried mozzarella as the guys tried to master the sewing machines. I saw an 18-year-old guy rip out a seam that wasn't right. Lunch was white fish and green sauce with a heap of pikliz. I bought a lunch ticket for the first time ever. New school rule- all water, no Kool Aid. Ben sat in on Bible class and I peeked in Jodie's Kindergarten class on the first day of the new unit on African animals. The seniors were having a parent meeting about their upcoming trip, so I got to hug several moms with whom I've spent many hours. We ran into Madame Meristel, our former housekeeper. She asked specifically about my friend who had cancer last year. She said she's continued to pray for her. Josiah's dreads are gone, Stephanie's engaged, Nathaniel is married...

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Why

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? -Micah 6

To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; To seek Him, the greatest adventure.-St. Augustine

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver

It is easier to produce ten volumes of philosophical writings than to put one principle into practice. -Leo Tolstoy

Make your choice, adventurous Stranger; Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, till it drives you mad, What would have followed if you had.-C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia

No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do. -Dorothy Day

The God of life summons us to life; more, to be lifegivers, especially toward those who lie under the heel of the powers. - Daniel Berrigan, Jesuit priest

The Bible is very easy to understand. But we as Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. - Kierkegaard

Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. -Paulo Freire, Brazilian advocate

If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. -Lilla Watson, Aboriginal elder

Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.-Luke 13

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. - Abraham Lincoln

You are a land that is not cleansed. Its princes are like a roaring lion; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows within it. -Ezekiel 22

Jesus didn’t die to save us from suffering—he died to teach us how to suffer…. Sometimes I actually mean it. I’d rather die young, having lived a life crammed with meaning, than to die old, even in security, but without meaning. - Mev Puleo

Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning. -Frederick W. Faber

Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now. -Saint Teresa of Avila

If you will do away with the yoke of oppression... and if you will spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. -Isaiah 58

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? -Martin Luther King, Jr.